Cover Story
Thinking outside the bubble: Common Core changes the way teachers teach, students learn, and education is tested
Common Core. Common Core. Common Core. Are you sick of hearing that phrase yet? Well, you better get used to it, because many educators think it’s going to be here awhile. Whether you think it’s a scheme masterminded by the federal government to brainwash our children or not, it’s changing the way teachers teach, students…
What do we need to change about our educational system?
Ron Veloz dairy industry employee “The teachers’ attitudes. Most of them care, but not all of them.” Ann Rempe registered nurse “I think school needs to start later in the morning.” Todd Osman restaurant manager “Better funding, and hiring more help.” Freddy Piña bartender/social scientist “We can begin with no longer teaching elementary school students…
Education Today 2015
Common Core. Common Core. Common Core. Are you sick of hearing that phrase yet? Well, you better get used to it, because many educators think it’s going to be here awhile. Whether you think it’s a scheme masterminded by the federal government to brainwash our children or not, it’s changing the way teachers teach, students…
Hope Family Wines’ 2013 Treana Red and Einhorn Brewing’s Root Beer
Everyone at my last dinner gathering raved about this wine—even my beer-swilling husband, who doesn’t drink red wine (every once in a while he’ll sneak a sip of my grenache, but that’s about it). What inspired the overwhelming fandom? It’s all in the mix. This blend of 75 percent cabernet sauvignon and 25 percent syrah…
Tasty new things
Fill ‘er up: The Station is San Luis Obispo’s oldest gas station re-imagined into a mixed-use space for work and events. The best part? It also boasts a curated wine and edible goods shop filled with delicious local wonders! Stop by the 311 Higuera St. location Tuesday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and…
Pop-Up dinners at Niner serve fresh, playful plates
Chef Maegen Loring believes that all kitchens have spirits, and her own San Luis Obispo kitchen is no exception. “My cooking totally changes every time I’m in a new house; each kitchen has its own personality,” Loring says. “It’s like a yeast—the spirit sort of lives in the air.” Her culinary workspace is bright, cheery,…
Arroyo Grande and Opera San Luis Obispo present Broadway on the Bandstand Aug. 16
Looking for a sonic slice of Americana? Stop by Arroyo Grande’s quaint bandstand this Aug. 16 for Arroyo Grande Village Summer Concert’s presentation of Broadway on the Bandstand. Sung by Opera San Luis Obispo, this show promises to get folks humming in their seats. A young quintet of musical talent will belt out show tunes…
Dive into Neal Breton’s pool series at The Gold Concept
Summer’s almost over, but you can still catch Neal Breton’s colorful pool series at The Gold Concept in downtown SLO through the month of August. What inspired these bold, chlorinated images so chock full of lazy summer indulgence? Well, the story goes something like this: When the artist has a little extra money in his…
Art After Dark lights up downtown SLO on the first Friday of every month
It’s Friday, Aug. 7—the first Friday of the month—and I have no idea where the hell I am. We were trying to go to Left Field, Nick Wilkinson’s new SLO Town home/garden/gallery store on Monterey, but instead I was lured down a sidewalk by some music played by a guy named Aaron Kimbell, and now,…
Photography exhibit Illume no. 1 mixes light and landscape at Kreuzberg
Dusk is desolate and bitter cold in Panamint Springs, near Death Valley. Secretive desert animals—coyotes, bats, and big spiders—had just begun to slink out from their hiding spaces when Matt Shara and Kory Worl flipped on several vibrant tubes of white LED light towering taller than their heads. Just like that, the scenery transformed into…
Math and skateboards collide in the classroom
Well-meaning adults have been trying to “make math cool” for some time. The effort has been pretty fruitless—unless you count the bad boy swagger of Sir Isaac Newton (one of the first celebrity mathematicians) or the eccentric antics of Sesame Street’s Count von Count—a vampire who beat the Twilight phenomenon by a good 30 years.…
Sierra Club withdraws appeal of Avila’s Harbor Terrace campground project
The Sierra Club withdrew its appeal of the Harbor Terrace project July 29, clearing the way for the coastal development. The environmental group filed the appeal June 24 with the California Coastal Commission, claiming that increased tourism from the campground would increase use of the fish-cleaning station located on the Harbor Pier. The cleaning station…
Michael Franti & Spearhead bring their socially conscious music to the Avila Beach Resort on Aug. 14th
I dare you to listen to Michael Franti’s new song “Once A Day” and not feel inspired, uplifted, and restored. The video is filled with people from all walks of life—the disabled, LGBT, old, young, black, brown, white—with one thing in common: They all embrace their place in the world community. “Everybody oughta hug somebody,…
Clubs 8/13/15 – 8/20/15
Goin’ South THE CLIFFS RESORT: 2757 Shell Beach Road, 773-5000 or cliffsresort.com. F. MCLINTOCKS SALOON: Two locations: 750 Mattie Road in Pismo Beach and 133 Bridge St. in Arroyo Grande. 773-1892 or mclintocks.com. Live music at the Pismo Beach location every Fri. and Sat. from 6-9pm. Tennessee Jimmy Harrell and Doc Stoltey play on alternating…
A tale of two cities
San Francisco has frequently led the nation with its progressive and innovative ideas. Morro Bay was once the setting for a world record in oyster eating. Yes, the two West Coast cities have much in common. The first Chinese immigrants landed in San Francisco Bay (1848), providing cheap West Coast labor. Morro Bay has a…
Bernie Sanders supports successful policy solutions
Letter writer Jim Griffin is perhaps too jaded by politics to be able to view the presidential candidacy of Bernie Sanders clearly. I can help. In a letter to the editor published on Aug. 6 (“It’s time for a third party”), he said that Sanders supports military adventurism. But one must understand that (to take…
What’s up with sports coverage?
A certain newspaper with a far-reaching, bountiful circulation in the SLO area gets a zero rating out of five stars for: • Not publishing scores of late baseball games. • Not publishing baseball box scores on a daily basis. • Not publishing golf leaderboards daily during golf tournaments. • Not publishing the…
Los Osos sets the standard for water conservation
I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to our Los Osos Community Services District water customers who are taking extraordinary measures to conserve water. Placing buckets in showers and sinks, letting lawns go brown, and businesses only serving water upon request, our customers are setting a shining example for the rest of the state during…
Rational education is the right education
Everyone knows public education has lots of problems, but the question is, who’s responsible? Liberals say it’s because of conservatives who do everything they can to sabotage education so that only the wealthy have total access, that vouchers, charter schools, private academies, and Christian schools—almost all of which outperform public schools at a fraction of…
Taught by nature: Outside Now immerses students in the natural world
Get outside and learn. That’s pretty much what SLO-based Outside Now does with post-toddlers to teens (and sometimes adults, too). For the last 10 years, the program’s immersed kids in nature, pushing them to understand how to survive, be good stewards, and appreciate the world around them. “The heart of what we do is reconnecting…
Morro Bay: To parklet, or not to parklet
After just seven months, the little parklet that created a lot of controversy in Morro Bay will be taken down. The parklet, or a sidewalk extension that is installed in a couple of parking spaces and hosts plants and benches—or in this case, patio chairs—was built in the city’s downtown core on Main Street. It…
Cougars & Mustangs
About a month remains until Cal Poly begins its fall 2015 quarter. Cuesta College’s fall semester is already here. A wealth of learning and memories awaits, but you’ve gotta adjust to the particulars of a collegiate lifestyle. So, why not attend the Cal Poly Collegians Alumni Big Band’s performance on Saturday, Aug. 29? After all,…
LA cops face child abuse charges in SLO County
Three Los Angeles police officers will likely face charges in SLO County Superior Court in connection with allegations that they abused several children at a local boot camp. The SLO County Sheriff’s Office served warrants on officers Marissa Elizabeth Larios, 36, and Patrick Marvin Nijland, 47, of the Huntington Park Police Department and Carlos Manuel…
Celebrity, local politician among speakers at Diablo Canyon hearing
When musician David Crosby took the microphone in front of a crowd at the Courtyard by Marriott San Luis Obispo, it wasn’t to belt out one of his famous songs. “I want to talk about what I think is at stake here: human lives,” he said. The celebrity was one of a multitude of people…
SLO Airport expansion gets green light
After two decades of taxiing on the runway, the San Luis Obispo Regional Airport’s plans for a new terminal is cleared for take off. On Aug. 11, the SLO County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a package of benchmarks that will enable the long-awaited plans to move forward. Those include awarding a construction contract and…
Cocaine, guns seized in big SLO County drug bust
SLO County Sheriff Ian Parkinson stood at the center of two tables. The one to his right featured a row of guns. The one to his left held large bricks of cocaine in clear plastic evidence bags. They are the fruits of a multi-agency investigation that took down a large-scale drug distribution ring operating in…
